Welcome To Across Pittsburgh

Across Pittsburgh is more than a Facebook page and greater than a Google search. Though you will find similar information on both platforms, they are missing the heartbeat of a people-centered website dedicated to one area in the Universe called Pittsburgh, PA.

We endeavor to be more than an algorithm and a search results page, a like, a share, a swipe right or left, and a tweet. We are a website dedicated to the people across the communities of Pittsburgh, the promotion of its brick-and-mortar businesses, and the recognition of its people who call the following communities home in Pittsburgh:

We are the communities in and "across" Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania's 412 area. 

Premier Guide For Pittsburgh & The Great 412

Our content strives NOT to be crowd-sourced. We don't just post anything here, even comments and reviews. Unlike other websites, so-called user reviews on Across Pittsburgh are reviewed by our staff for fairness.

As such, this is not the place to beat up a restaurant because they got your order wrong. Sorry, but that stuff happens to the best. We are human after all and to be human is to error. Therefore, our criteria for posting a critical review of a business is fairness and we enable businesses that are premium members of our site to fully control their endorsements.

Yes, if they don't want something on their listing, then it won't be there. For non-premium members, our staff will judge the veracity and usefulness of endorsements.  

So what if a business does suck?

Good question. There are certainly businesses that come and go and are unsavory in many regards. Well, you are the judge. If there are no endorsements for a business, then that should tell you something, right? Moreover, if we detect a pattern of bad reviews then we may pull the listing from our website at our sole discretion for not living up to our quality business threshold. We are here to primarily highlight the best businesses in and across Pittsburgh. We endeavor to do that in an open trusted and transparent fashion.

Importance of Honest Local Business Reviews

While it's tempting to dismiss Facebook as a necessary evil, its limitations are increasingly apparent. Beyond privacy concerns, its algorithm controls what you see and who sees your content. This can limit exposure for local businesses, especially those without significant marketing budgets.

At Across Pittsburgh, we believe in a more direct and transparent approach. Every visitor sees your posts, ensuring maximum visibility for your favorite local businesses. By adding and reviewing them here, you're not just supporting them; you're helping them get discovered by others. Reviews are a powerful tool for boosting local businesses' online presence and search engine rankings.

Would you like to contribute to Across Pittsburgh?

We are looking for folks in the Pittsburgh area who would like to help build Across Pittsburgh as a premier information resource for the businesses, organizations, and people of Pittsburgh and the 412. To do that, we need community-minded folks to contribute.  Right now, it does not pay money, but we will do our best to make it worth your while. 

• Occasional lunches, beers - economy permitting
• Gift cards, when we have them - profitability permitting
• Freely promote an organization or shop of your choice - available immediately 

There are other benefits too, and we are happy to teach contributors new skills in return for time. Contact us to learn more by clicking the button below to go to our contact form. 

Our Story

How did this website get here? Sometimes we wonder the exact same thing.

Sometime in the early 2000s, our founder and publisher, Matt De Reno, hammered up a sign on a telephone pool at the corner of Perry Highway and Highland Avenue (curiously, the telephone pool was located right outside the Highland Bar) in the Borough of West View in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh.

A week or so later, he received an email from the local magisterial district judge. At first, Matt thought he had violated some kind of ordinance, but lo and behold, the judge was interested in getting his court information online and liked the idea of a community website. And, so Across Ross took off. 

Around 2014, Across Ross became a community-oriented hyperlocal news site, when a former North Hills Patch editor was looking for a new home to write hyperlocal news in the wake of Patch North Hills undergoing a downsize.

The former Patch editor, Rich Cook,  teamed up with Matt De Reno. Together they embarked on a grand idea to make a profitable and valuable hyperlocal news website for Ross Township.

The site quickly drew lots of attention and was credited as the source of original news on local television outlets several times. That was attributable to the dogged work of Rich Cook, who posted stories every day on the website, went to township meetings, and hobnobbed with any worth hobnobbing with across Ross Township. 

Unfortunately, while drawing over 55,000 unique visitors a month, news content is a hard business in which to make a buck (and, ah, it still is today). Therefore, supporting AcrossRoss full-time was not sustainable and the news operation went the way of well, Path North Hills (though Patch North Hills has since come back). 

Today Matt De Reno is still trying to figure out how to keep the spirit of Across Ross alive. So, he decided to revisit the original purpose of creating a community website for the local people, only to expand it to the greater North Hills area of Pittsburgh, as Across North Hills, and then, ultimately, Across Pittsburgh.

This is how Across Pittsburgh got here. Will it stay? We are going to work hard to find out and we have some tricks up our sleeves that we think can make Across Pittsburgh a valuable information resource and a sustainable one from the perspective of keeping the lights on.

So the Across Pittsburgh story, well, that story is unfolding now — and is yet to be written. If you made it this far, thank you for reading this and we appreciate anyway you can support Across Pittsburgh. 

Across Pittsburgh Is "A Site From Scratch" 

Across Pittsburgh is "A Site From Scratch", which means it is owned and produced by Scratch Writing, Inc., a Pennsylvania Subchapter S Corp. Scratch Writing, Inc. is owned and operated by Matt De Reno. Learn more about Scratch Writing at www.ScratchWriting.com.